If Only You Believe
by dejaceratops
Summary: Now as I head into my late thirties, I realize that the time to accept the love that came so late in my life has not only come but is fast disappearing, and if I don’t hold on tightly, it’s simply going to slip away… TP


A/N: This is something I wrote a while ago and just kinda forgot about it until now. I know I'm supposed to be working in TMH (which I am), and I know it's taking me forever (_gomen nasai_), but I thought I'd post this little one shot just to see how it's received. Hopefully you guys like it. BTW, our school's doing some dumb state testing thing, and I have a TON of free time now (no homework), so the next chapter of TMH should be out REALLY soon, I promise! Anyway, read on and enjoy!

If Only You Believe

There's always a time in your life when you look back and realize that you've been missing out on something vital, something life-altering. This something is what dreams and fantasies are made of and what stories and songs are written about. This something is so powerful that people live for it, die for it even. This something, as it _always_ is, is love. Now as I head into my late thirties, I realize that the time to accept the love that came so late in my life has not only come but is fast disappearing, and if I don't hold on tightly, it's simply going to slip away…

It was summertime when she came into my life. Well, I should say, when she came into my life _again_. I'd known her for years; our families were friends for many generations before us. I was Trunks, the rich, handsome, sought-after bachelor, and she was Pan, my best friend's little niece. She was like my annoying, nagging little sister when we were younger; she always followed me around, and I always told her to go away. Then she moved further away from us all, her reason being a "lack of freedom" as she put it. I thought I was okay with her leaving at the time, but the more she was gone, the more I found myself wanting her to be around again. Of course, I never thought I might actually _love_ her. The thought was preposterous…that is, until I saw her again.

I decided I wanted to go visit Goten, her uncle and my best friend since I was born, at his shore side abode, since it had been a while since we'd talked. Being president of a multi-billion zenni corporation doesn't give you much time to socialize, you know? Anyway, we decided that I'd come to stay at his house for a few weeks after the company merger with another international corporation was complete. I had happily driven the four hundred miles to his house, ecstatic to see my best friend again after so long, when my mouth dropped at the person I saw waiting at the end of the driveway to greet me. Unbeknownst to me, Pan had moved in with her uncle, who was actually more like her brother, and was just as happy about my visit as Goten and I had been. I was shocked at the girl, or woman, more accurately speaking, I saw before me. She had grown taller and slimmer and had really grown into her features. She looked like a model standing there, casually leaning against the mailbox in her denim shorts and white tank top as she waved. Of course, after thinking this, I mentally punished myself and went back to being shocked by her presence.

"Hi, Trunks! It's been so long!" she shouted happily as I stepped out of my red convertible and into the sun. She ran to me and threw her arms around my neck, wrapping me up in a tight hug. I could hardly believe this was the Pan who left us for more "freedom"; she was so grown up that I hardly recognized her!

"Pan! Wow, look at you! How've you been?" I could barely manage getting those words out of my mouth; her arms were starting to choke me a bit.

"Okay, Panny, chill out before you suffocate the man," laughed Goten as Pan let go of me, a light rose tinting her cheeks.

"Well, come on! Let's go inside so we can talk. How have you been the past three years? I want to know everything!" Pan exclaimed happily, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into the house. The rest of that day was a blur; I just remember sitting and talking to her for hours and hours. I think we talked until around three o'clock in the morning. That was when I decided we should call it a night.

"Hey, Pan, it's getting late. Go to bed, and we can finish talking in the morning," I whispered to her. Goten was already passed out on the living room couch and had been that way since around eleven. His snoring was really starting to bother me.

"Okay, Trunks. Good night," she murmured, trying, as I had, to be quiet and not wake her uncle. She walked over and gave me a small peck on the cheek before rushing up the stairs and into her room. I waited to hear her door close before yawning widely and looking over to Goten. As usual, his hair looked terrible, and drool was slowly dribbling down his chin as he slept. I shook my head and picked up a throw pillow, launching it right at his head.

"Get up, loser. It's time to go to bed."

"The potatoes want me to sing, but I don't want to! Don't let them make me sing!" Goten cried as he turned over on the couch, his back now to me.

"Whatever," I sighed as I headed up to my room. My body was telling me it was definitely time to go to sleep, but my mind was still racing. I had so much to ask Pan, and I'm sure she had so much to tell, but we were both going to need the sleep. We would have plenty of time to talk; I was going to be at the beach house for a few weeks. I lay in my bed and rested my head on my pillow when I heard a soft creak, like the opening of a door. It didn't really have any bearing on me, so I turned over and attempted to go to sleep.

"Trunks, are you asleep yet?"

"No, Pan, not yet. What's wrong?" I turned over to look at her as she crept into my room and shut my door behind her. She pushed some of her soft, brown hair behind her ear as she crept to my bedside, her soft brown eyes shining in the moonlight streaming through the window.

"I can't sleep. I…just need someone to talk to. Is it okay if I talk to you?" she asked cautiously as if she was afraid that I would be upset with her. I sat up straight, my back to the wall, and pulled back the covers.

"Come on. In you go," I told her, and she smiled brightly as she climbed into my bed. Even in the dark, her smile lit up her face, and I felt my heart twist in my chest. Naturally, I chose to ignore it at the time, but I came to realize in the next few minutes that everything she did made my heart skip a beat. Pan and I talked for hours and hours until she finally fell asleep at eight o'clock. By then, the sun was up, and so was Goten. I could hear him padding around the house, calling to see if either Pan or I was awake yet, but I didn't answer. Instead, I wrapped Pan a little tighter in my arms as she slept peacefully, her hair tickling my chest. Talking with her had been so invigorating that I just wasn't ready to sleep yet. I couldn't. My mind raced with more questions to ask and more stories to tell. It wasn't until ten that either of us got out of bed. Goten had decided that we should all go to the beach and go surfing. Of course, somewhere around noon, Pan and I fell asleep on the same surfboard, bodies in the ocean and heads resting on the arms we had situated on the board.

That wasn't the last time Pan came to me in the middle of the night. In the beginning it was just to talk like it was that first time. Then she would come and claim that she couldn't get comfortable and that she needed me to rub her back. After that it was "It's too cold in my room," or, "I need company."

Soon, she stopped giving me reasons, which by that time had become excuses. She came just to come. We didn't even have to speak; silence wasn't an awkward thing for us. She just lay in my arms at peace while I sat and thought. I don't know what I was thinking about during those nights; obviously I wasn't thinking clearly or I would've ceased allowing her to sleep in my bed like that. She was my best friend's niece, for Kami's sake! Not to mention the fact that there are fourteen years between us. Fourteen years! Her dad was nine when I was born; that means I'm almost old enough to be her father and here I am falling in love with her! I remember exactly when I realized I loved her, too. She was asleep in my bed after a long session of companionable silence when the thought hit me like a speeding freight train. She must have known what I was thinking although I have no idea how because she said to me,

"I love you, too." I just stared at her, my breathing fast and labored as her eyes welled up. "I've known how I felt about you for a while now. I can't believe this even happened," she continued, her voice breaking as she confessed her feelings for me. I was stunned. I didn't know how she knew what I was thinking or how to feel about her feeling the same way. The rest of that night was spent trying to calm her down and answer some of the many questions the two of us had about this whole relationship. I remember feeling happier than I've ever felt before I went to sleep. I remember thinking that I would be happy with her for the rest of my life. That's around the time Goten found out that Pan had been sleeping in my room. Logically, Goten made the wrong conclusion from what he had discovered and told her parents and mine about what he thought had been going on...

Now they're sending her to America, Georgia to be specific. Why America? Why Georgia? I couldn't tell you myself. They couldn't have chosen a place more difficult to get to from where I live than Georgia. Her plane leaves in an hour and a half, and I'm sitting here on my bed, wondering what I'm going to do. Now it occurs to me that I don't care what our families think about what's going on between us. I love her, and she loves me, and that's all that matters. Then it hits me…if I continue to sit here and _think_ about her, she's going to get away.

I race to my car and jump into the front seat, starting it up and speeding down the highway. Traffic lights and pedestrians don't really concern me at this point. All that really matters is that I get to that plane. I manage to catch every light and train stop that you could possibly imagine on my way to the airport. I arrive at her gate just as she gets up to head to her plane.

"Pan!" As I shout her name, she and all her family turn around and see me standing there. Her eyes well up with tears as the look she gives me tells me she knew I was coming all along. My dad says everything always works out if you let yourself believe (very optimistic for the prince of all Saiyans, right?) and he was right. I believe in our love. I believe that Pan will keep me happy for the rest of my life. Nothing can ever take that away from me.

A/N: I hope you liked it! I won't beg you to review although it makes me incredibly and unexplainably happy when you do! >  
3 Deja


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